Dissension mars loss

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004 | 9:51 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Dazed, confused and very frustrated.

That pretty well summed up the UNLV Rebels (12-8, 3-5) after a lackluster 70-56 loss to Utah (18-5, 6-2) at the Huntsmen Center on Monday night here. And no one was more frustrated than junior forward Odartey Blankson.

The Mountain West Conference leader in double-doubles and the team leader in ice bags for his bruised body after each game and practice, Blankson was the first out of a somber Rebels locker room. And when reporters surrounded him to ask what had gone wrong, Blankson had no shortage of answers.

"We don't take advantage of matchups," said, Blankson, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Marquette. "That's our problem. Other teams do, but we don't."

And ...

"We don't know our roles on our team. You can't say I'm going to go out there and play my role because you don't know what your role is. We have five superstars on the team. We don't get each other open. We don't have any fundamentals. Nothing. It's sad. It's just sad playing right now."

And ...

"We don't know what to do. We're just running around out there with our heads cut off. We don't have discipline. We don't run sets. We don't do anything. Every shot we take, seven times out of 10, is out of the offense. It's just a fired-up shot. Myself included. Nothing is in rhythm."

But Blankson was just getting started. When pressed for a reason for such offensive chaos, he blamed team chemistry and hinted at dissension in the locker room.

"Our preparation sucks," Blankson said. "The attitude of everybody is bad. There's no chemistry. Guys don't like playing with each other. It's just a bad year. Hopefully we can turn things around and keep our heads up and try to win the conference tournament."

No chemistry?

"It's bad," Blankson said. "There's no chemistry. Certain lineups work right. A lot of them don't. It's been going on for the whole year.

"I think guys, before you pass the ball, you look at their face instead of their jersey. I come from a program (Marquette) where everybody played together, everybody moved the ball and set screens. Guys had their backs. But it's not like that here. I can't explain why, but its not."

Blankson said he's voiced his concerns to UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour.

"I've talked to him before but I'm just the player," Blankson said. "I'm not the coach of the team. I can't dictate what's going on."

And, to hear Blankson tell it, it might not matter what Spoonhour has to say anyway.

"Whatever the players want to do, that's what is going to go on on the court," he said. "Bottom line, nobody listens. Nobody does nothing. That's just how it is. It's a bad situation now. Hopefully we can turn things around."

Spoonhour seemed surprised when told of Blankson's comments, especially the ones about his team's chemistry problems.

"We were all happy with each other four days ago," he said referring to his team's mental state following a Big Monday upset of Air Force.

"This is the time of year when you get in a situation where people are tired, referees are tired, coaches are tired and players are tired. And you either dig in or things can mushroom."

"We're just not jelling right now," center J.K. Edwards said. "We've said it and we've said it but you never know what you're going to get when you come out here. ... Guys were pressing too much, trying to win the game on their own. They've got to understand it's a team game."

Utah guard Nick Jacobson said he noticed Rebels players bickering with each other, especially in the second half when the Utes broke open what had been a five-point game (38-33) with a 22-9 run over the next 12 1/2 minutes.

"Just the guys I was guarding, I could hear a lot of arguing," Jacobson said. " I don't want it to be like I'm starting stuff with their team, but they were arguing a lot. I think they were getting frustrated with some guys running different stuff than other guys."

Spoonhour, who gave his team the day off today following what could have been a very turbulent flight home, believes his team will bounce back the final month of the season.

"I have confidence we'll figure something out and we'll come back and play," he said. "When you just finish playing a game like this ... there's not an ounce of fun in a game like this."

Even Blankson said he hasn't given up hope for a strong finish.

"We've got the talent here," he said. "If we pull it together we can still do it. But if we don't pull it together. ..."

Blankson didn't finish his sentence. And he didn't have to.

After all, he had already spoken volumes.